(Denver) Pitcher Kyle Freeland has signed a five-year, $64.5 million contract with the Colorado Rockies.
Posted at 6:45 p.m.
By doing so, Freeland, who was born in Denver, and the Rockies will avoid an arbitration hearing that was scheduled for May 24.
In a statement, Rockies general manager Bill Schmidt said the team and Freeland began talks a long time ago. He also said he was happy to have reached this agreement.
A left-handed pitcher who will celebrate his 29and birthday on May 14, Freeland will receive 7 million this season, 10.5 million in 2023, 15 million in 2024 and 16 million in each of the following two campaigns.
The contract includes a conditional optional clause of 17 million at the player’s discretion in view of 2027. Freeland will be able to take advantage of it if he accumulates 170 or more innings on the mound in 2026.
Additionally, if Freeland finishes in the top-5 for the Cy Young Trophy in any season between 2022 and 2024, then he will have the option to terminate the contract at the end of the 2024 season and become a player. autonomous.
Freeland had asked the Rockies to raise his salary from $5,025,000 to $7.8 million. The team offered him $6,425,000.
He could have become a free agent at the end of the 2023 season.
The deal with Freeland is the most lucrative for a Rockies pitcher since Mike Hampton agreed to an eight-year, $121 million pact before the 2001 season.
Freeland is 0-2 with a 10.00 ERA in two starts this season. In six major league campaigns, his overall record is 40-42, with an ERA of 4.28.
In 2018, he finished fourth in the Cy Young Trophy standings, posting a 17-7 record and a 2.85 ERA.
There are still 22 players still likely to appear for an arbitration hearing, between April 26 and June 24.
Normally, arbitration hearings take place during the month of February. They were postponed because of the lockout then raging at Major League Baseball.